Chiafullo, A. (2023, December 3). Levain Bakery Rendition Middle of Cookie [Photograph; jpg].

Chiafullo, A. (2023, December 3). Levain Bakery Rendition Chocolate Chip Cookies [Photograph; jpg].

Why Gluten-Free?

As someone who was diagnosed with celiac disease in my late teens, I never grew up knowing what gluten was, and all these foods I had to look out for were new to me. Many of my family members still forget I can’t eat bread or pretzels, so they have a hard time understanding what to look out for. Gluten is a protein found in grains like wheat, rye, and barley. It acts as a binder and makes food stretchy. Gluten affects people with celiac disease because their small intestines cannot absorb any of the nutrients with gluten in their system. It also affects people who have gluten allergies and intolerances by affecting their joints and causing stomach issues. Most recipes cannot be replaced with only replacing flour with gluten-free flour because it would cause the recipe to be brittle and dry.

History of Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you live in the United States, you surely have a childhood memory of chocolate chip cookies, whether it is leaving them for Santa or the smell it leaves after baking in the oven. The creator of the delicious dessert is Ruth Wakefield, who created the Tollhouse recipe. She put it in her cookbook, which became so popular that Betty Crocker put her on her radio show. She then sold the name and recipe to Nestle. Now, it is America’s comfort dessert!

Levain Bakery

Growing up in New Jersey, I heard about many places I “must try” since I was a 1-hour train ride from New York City. Before I was diagnosed with celiac, I tried one of Levain Bakery’s famous cookies and fell in love. The original is a small bakery founded in 1995 and has now expanded to more locations in major cities nationwide. Not only are the cookies massive, but they also have different types. After being diagnosed, I was devastated because although they do have vegan and gluten-free cookies, they cost more, and most importantly, they do not have a separate kitchen, so there are no guarantees that there is no cross-contamination.

Experiments

As someone with celiac disease, I took the initiative to go through renditions of the Levain gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipes to make the closest match to the actual cookie without any gluten. I tested 4 different gluten-free copycat recipes with the most ratings and created pros and cons list for each.

Recipes I Tested:

1. Sweets and Thank You: Gluten Free Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies

2. Organically Addison: Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free)

3. The Gluten-Free Austrian: Gluten Free Levain Bakery Cookies

4. The Big Man’s World:Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies(Vegan + GF)

Ingredients

Chiafullo, A. (2023, December 3). Ingredients [Photograph; jpg].

Equipment

Chiafullo, A. (2023, December 3). Equipment [Photograph; jpg].

Video

Recipe Card

Ingredients:

113 grams of room temperature unsalted butter
105 grams of light brown sugar
110 grams of granulated white sugar
1 whole egg room temperature
1 egg yolk
280 grams of King Arthur Measure 4 Measure flour
25 grams of cornstarch
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt
250 grams of semisweet chocolate morsels
100 grams of dark chocolate morsels
100 grams of dark chocolate bar chopped
100 grams of dark chocolate morsels
100 grams of milk chocolate bar chopped
100 grams of milk chocolate morsels
sea salt of sprinkling

Steps:

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl
With a stand mixer, cream together light brown sugar, white sugar, and cut up room temperature butter on medium speed. Make sure to at least wait 2-3 minutes so it is fully incorporated and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and attachment down with a spatula so everything stays mixed.
Add in the room temperature egg on low and wait until fully mixed. Scrape down the bowl and put the mixer on low as you add the other room temperature egg yolk.
Scrape down the bowl and make sure everything is well mixed. Add vanilla bean paste on low and scrape down bowl again.
As the mixer is on low, add 1/4 cup of dry ingredients mixture at a time to the bowl. Wait until fully combined to add the next 1/4 cup. Before the last scoop, scrape down the bowl, add in the last 1/4 cup and mix until SLIGHTY NOT combine. The flour will continue to mix as you add in the chocolate chips and you don’t want to over mix the dough.
Mix the different chocolate together in a separate bowl. Once they are mixed fold them into dough mixture until just mixed in.
Put a piece of parchment paper down on your scale and a piece of parchment paper on your baking sheet. Weigh out 6oz of dough without tightly packing it. It shouldn’t be in a perfect circle, but just together enough where it will not separate.
After you place all of the cookies on the baking sheet place a piece of plastic wrap on top of them.
Place in the fridge for two hours
Preheat oven to 375°. Once preheated place four cookies at a time on a baking sheet with parchment paper. You do not want to overcrowd your pan and don’t reuse a hot baking sheet.
Bake for 8-10 mins on the middle rack. Rotate pan and bake for an additional 4-6 mins
Once they are taken out, add a pinch flaky sea salt on top and let cool for ten minutes before moving to a cooling rack or devouring!

Chiafullo, A. (2023, December 3). Levain Bakery Rendition Chocolate Chip Cookies Unbaked [Photograph; jpg].

Chiafullo, A. (2023, December 3). Levain Bakery Rendition Chocolate Chip Cookies Dough With Chocolate [Photograph; jpg].

Chiafullo, A. (2023, December 3). Levain Bakery Rendition Chocolate Chip Cookies Dough Before Chocolate [Photograph; jpg].

Chiafullo, A. (2023, December 3). Levain Bakery Rendition Chocolate Chip Cookies Dough Before Chilling [Photograph; jpg].

Chiafullo, A. (2023, December 3). Levain Bakery Rendition Chocolate Chip Cookies [Photograph; jpg].

Notes:

You must use room temperature butter so the sugars and butter can properly cream smoothly rather than chunks of butter.
You can substitute 200 grams of any topping of choice instead of chocolate chips
Make sure you always scrape down the bowl! It may seem insignificant, but without doing the dough will won’t be well mixed and you might get a chance of butter in one bite, while another is too salty.
Make sure your cookies are on the middle rack. You don’t want to burn the bottom of them.
Make sure to let them cool for ten minutes as they are still baking. Don’t wait to0 long after the ten minutes since you want the gooey center.